Don’t worry: You’ll definitely forget something

Event management is sometimes really complicated, especially if you organize such an important event as the 40th anniversary of your company. You usually start talking about general things and how everything should be done, but when you start planning details and when you have to perform microanalysis, that is the moment that you realize: “This is even harder than I thought.”

I believe it is important to have a clear picture in your mind and to decide what is – and is not -important for the success of the event. It is also important to be surrounded with people who share your vision and completely understand what your goal is. In event management, it is not the key point to have a successful event, the event is actually a useful tool to present your company in the best possible way. Depending on your organizational capabilities, you can improve or ruin your company’s image. It’s clear that you have something to worry about.

Including our local community

Our big event was in September and we were thinking that it would be nice if we could manage to make our anniversary all year story in our company. Brainstorming started and we decided that it would be good to develop some programs which might include our local community. We have an active Association of Blood Donors in our company, so we thought it would be a good opportunity to present them. On World Blood Donor Day, blood donation was organized in cooperation with Public Health Centre Tešanj. Around forty employees participated in this activity.

Since we have close contacts with the local elementary school “Rešad Kadić”, we organized an art contest where students could demonstrate their creativity. Before the end of the school year, students visited us in order to learn about our company and our core business. To take part in this contest, they had to create drawings on the subject of the 40th anniversary of MANN+HUMMEL BA. After receiving their drawings, a selection was made, and the best three students received appropriate awards.

World collaboration day – a pre-event

Before the 40th Anniversary celebration, another event took place at our plant. On the world collaboration day, white collar workers spent one day in production. They worked in production of air and liquid filters and also in logistics. On that day we were able to remove the boundaries between white and blue collar employees at least for a moment. That feeling was quite special and we will repeat this activity in future.

All these events were quite successful, but as the clock was ticking we needed to focus more and more on our main event. Our guest list included many important visitors from the Group and also from politics and business. It was really important to leave a good impression. We tried to think what could go wrong with the event and we planned appropriate solutions in advance. There was so much work to do and only with great teamwork could everything be accomplished.

Finally: The anniversary itself

“D-Day” soon arrived. Preparations began early in the morning. As there would be a plant tour for some of the guests prior to the reception in the restaurant, some members of the organizational team stayed at the plant, with others responsible for decorating the restaurant and welcoming the guests. All details in the restaurant had been planned months ahead.

As the guests started to arrive, I was aware of just how fast time flies. The feeling when everything that you have worked on for so long is finally happening is quite exceptional. I was looking at the people and trying to absorb all of their reactions. The official program started at around 6 pm with the MANN+HUMMEL song from our location. The song was followed by speeches and movies, a great meal and a special birthday cake.

Anniversary with happy ending

When it was all over, there was a great sense of relief across the entire organizational team. We were glad that our story had a happy ending and that we had managed to organize a successful event which actually enhanced the image of our location. As you may have noticed, I didn’t write about pitfalls. So what did I want to say with this title: ‘Don’t worry; you’ll definitely forget something?’ After the end of the event, you will always discover things that could actually improve your satisfaction with the event. After you experience something, you know what could be done better, but you have to bear in mind that guests will probably not analyse your organizational skills as much as you do. So don’t beat yourself up about it, use your energy to channel changes, write down your observations and use them as a starting point when you need to organize a new event.